Red Rum
by Little Witch
Summary: Lily, James, Sirius, Helena.The survival of the human race depends on these four. They must travel to a magical world in the sky to live out their destiny, but their journey will not be easy. And the cause of all this trouble? The pendant of Red Rum.....
1. Red Rum: Prologue

Red Rum: Prologue

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Monday 12th June 1926

"Twist and turn, bubble and burn,

The world in danger, babe in a manger,

And as the gruel becomes thick and steamy,

Bring me the man who has the power to be me!"

A beautiful lady swathed in red laughed evilly. She was bent greedily over a pool of swirling, bubbling water that was shining with silvers, blues and metallic reds.

The beautiful lady had dark hair, almost black, which was plaited in a long braid down her back. There were small red flowers woven down the braid, each possessing a power that was greater than any other in the world. Her dark eyes glinted with malevolence as she stared into the churning waters. Her perfect red lips formed a smile as she threw the liver of a gypsy into the pit of dark nothingness. She was clothed in a long red dress, with black lace around the edges. The most beautiful part of the whole ensemble was a pendant that she wore around her neck. It was gold, the shape of a sun, and set deep in the middle was a beautiful blood red stone, a ruby, shining with all the wealth in the city of Auriga.

Auriga was a beautiful city in the sky. It was charged with the most electrifying powers in the universe, and those that lived there, or visited there, immediately became charged with the power too. Auriga was not accessible to any regular human being, you had to have a special ability, or overwhelming beauty or wealth to enter. The Gypsy tribe of Cepheus had acquired the special Danira, a chalice filled with dancing blue flames, that enabled them to cross the bridge into Auriga, and it was for this reason that the beautiful lady had come about.

You see, the beautiful lady was Princess Lavinia, illegitimate daughter of Queen Christabel and a Gypsy traveller named Jacob LeSavine who had used the Danira to enter Auriga, and then slowly, over the months, he had fallen in love with Queen Christabel. Lavinia had inherited her Father's dark Gypsy looks, and her Mother's beautiful posture. Princess Lavinia was nearing thirty in age, and was still not committed in a relationship. As the population of Auriga was composed of entirely women, Lavinia awaited the day a traveller would stumble across her. Her Mother, near dieing age had promised her the throne, only if she could find a husband. Which brings us back to the present moment.

"Forked tongue of snake,

Tail of demon we leave to bake,

For it is I who hath the power!

Bring me the man who will make my hour!"

Princess Lavinia cackled in glee, as the pit of waters began to spew out long torrents of the burning potion, drenching Lavinia as she stood by the pit, nearly toppling in as tidal waves of the silver liquid lapped at the sides.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the waters fell calm. Lavinia shivered, in spite of the heat of the water, as a figure began to rise out of the dark pit.

The figure stepped out if the pit and slowly advanced on Princess Lavinia.

She smiled happily. The potion had worked. She summed him up. Not bad, she thought, a little tall for my liking, but still okay. As the spell had predicted would happen, the man swept her up in an earth shattering kiss.

They broke apart, and Princess Lavinia took the mans hand. Neither exchanged a word, though they both knew the other's name. It was as though they had known each other all their lives. Princess Lavinia led her betrothed to Queen Christabel. When they reached the Fiume, they both leaped across it as one, Lavinia's red dress trailing behind her, as she led the man, Charles to meet her mother.

***

Queen Christabel was pleased with Princess Lavinia's choice in husband. Being the most powerful witch, queen and women in the whole of Auriga, she was also the most powerful Divinator in the whole of Auriga. And as ever, when a joyful thing happened, there was a prophecy to put a damper on the whole thing.

Princess Lavinia and her betrothed, were about to leave Queen Christabel's chamber when she held up a frail hand to stop them.

"Wait!" she said in her cracked voice. Old as she was, Christabel still had her beauty, splendour and domination over others. Immediately, Lavinia and Charles stopped and turned to face her.

"A year from now, in the Southern sky,

A child is born, the mother will fly.

Into God's heaven she will leave,

Her child and husband will bereave,

And when two powers of evil combine,

The child will rise, to say, 'the world is mine!'"

As she uttered the last word, she uttered her last breath. Her lifeless body fell back onto the silk pillow and as Lavinia brushed her Mother's eyes shut, she knew what the prophecy meant: she would die after giving birth to a child a year from now. Because both her and her lover were the two most powerful beings in the world, when joined together, their child would be the supreme power. Indestructible power. The greatest power in the universe.

***

A year later, as the prophecy predicted, Lavinia died, a few hours after giving birth to a baby boy.

As her life ebbed away, Lavinia put all her efforts into passing on her great power. The pendant was burning as it lay on her chest; she was writhing with pain, putting all her energy into the magnificent ruby set in the centre of the gold. As she passed away, the ruby glowed brightly, giving off a bright red light, that shone into Charles' eyes as he held his wife's hand.

She was an evil woman. She had never used her great powers to help anybody but herself. He watched now as every one of the little red flowers that she braided into her hair each day wilted, and died with her. Then, the powers left her body, and formed a swirling vortex as they entered the pendant. The pendant sucked the powers greedily, and as quickly as it had started, it stopped. The room was silent, apart from Charles' racking sobs. He knew that this necklace held a great vigour, and he unhooked it from her pale neck. Kissing her one last time, he left the room, slipping the pendant into his pocket.

He hurried to his room, and packed the few things that Lavinia had allowed him to have. When his carpetbag was packed with his belongings, he picked up his newborn son, whom they had named Martin and left Auriga by the golden staircase at the edge of the city. One person saw him leave. A witch going by the name of Heather Pickering. As she watched the man walk down the steps to "the real world" a wave of helplessness overcame her. It was then that she knew the baby boy in his arms would kill one of her descendants.

A/N I hope you enjoyed that. I know that it has absolutely no relevance to any of the Harry Potter characters, but all will be revealed if you review! If you review, you will motivate me to write faster! Anyway that's the point of prologues: something that happened many years ago, that gives background information. That's what this is doing. Giving background information. Ciao! And review!


	2. The Pendant of Red Rum

Red Rum

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Thursday 23rd December 1973

"Christmas time! Mistletoe and wine, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!" sang a sixteen year old Gryffindor named Helena Poole in a very out of tune voice. Helena had fair hair and big blue eyes. To a stranger, she would be described as 'a dumb blonde'.

She waltzed into the common room after greeting the Fat Lady with a hearty "Merry Christmas and may all your children prosper!"

She continued dancing around the common room, and changed carols halfway through.

"We three kings of orient are, wearing knickers and a pink bra!" she sang, then she hiccuped.

Lily Evans, her friend, was sitting in an armchair by the fire looking at her with a bemused expression on her face.

Helena was now walking around dizzily, then she sat down in an armchair near Lily's, and began shouting out random pieces of information.

  
"The grass is green! The sky is blue! Lily's an idiot!" she spouted out.

"Helena," Lily said," have you been drinking again?"

"Only the odd"-hiccup, "glass or"-hiccup, "two."-hiccup. Helena replied.

"Yeah sure," Lily said, then waved her wand at Helena, "sobressa!"

Immediately, Helena perked up and became sane, well more sane than usual anyway!

"Lily, did you know that if you wear a pineapple upside down on your head, the juice will run into your eyes?" Helena asked.

"Helena, you're weird," Lily said, half laughing, "almost as weird as Sirius!"

"I beg to differ!" Helena said standing up on the chair, and promptly falling down again, "I am the weirdest! I am more weird than Sirius!"

Sirius, who happened to have come into the common room to hear this last statement, had something to say about it as usual.

"Helena! How dare you say that you are more weird than me?" Sirius said, "Have you ever tried to eat an entire three course meal with your feet?" he demanded.

"No, but I bet you've never eaten jelly with a straw through your nose!" Helena shouted back.

"Well, I haven't done that, but I can play five recorders at a time!" he shouted, "one in my mouth, two in my nose and one in each ear!" Sirius said.

"Sirius," Helena said disgusted, "that's not weird that's freakish! That's the sort of thing that Suzanne would do!" (Suzanne is a very weird girl who wears banana's for hair clips.)

"Oh shut up!" Sirius said, not able to think of a good comeback.

"It's Christmas in two days time!" Helena screamed, forgetting their little 'who is the weirdest' match.

"Yeah I can't wait!" Sirius enthused, "I've got a feeling that this is going to be the best Christmas ever."

"Yeah!" Helena said.

She sank down in her chair, and Sirius sank down in his. As it was the Christmas Holiday's, nearly everyone had gone home. The only Gryffindors left were a couple of first years, a third year and Lily, Helena, Sirius and James, who were all sixth years.

Helena was Lily's best friend, James was Lily's boyfriend, and Sirius was Lily's boyfriend's best friend. So they were all connected in some way.

At this moment in time, as you know, Sirius, Helena and Lily were in the common room feeling very bored, and James was in the Library, trying to finish an essay for History of Magic, so that his Christmas wouldn't be ruined by homework.

The next day, snow was falling thick and fast, and the lake was frozen solid. Lily, being Muggle Born, had had skating lessons when she was younger, and decided that today was as good as any to practice her skills.

To their dismay, Lily dragged James, Sirius and Helena with her telling them that Ice Skating was the most normal thing in the world. They looked at her in disbelief before she pushed them onto the ice.

They slipped and slid on the frozen water, as Lily zoomed off doing all sorts of funny leaps in the air, well that was what it looked like to her friends. Helena tried to copy what Lily was doing and promptly fell over. Lily skated over to them, and showed them how to skate properly. An hour and a half later, they still hadn't grasped the concept. By now the snow was swirling around them in torrents, and they decided that they should go in. As Lily skated gracefully off the ice, through the soft, swirling flakes, she could have sworn that she saw a pair of red eyes staring at her from behind a tree.

She dismissed the eyes from her thoughts putting them down to a magical creature that had escaped from the forest. 

***

"Wakey wakey!" a very hyper Helena shouted into a very sleepy Lily's ear.

"I'm up!" Lily said, sitting bolt upright in her bed.

"Merry Christmas!" Helena said.

"Merry Crimbo, Hel," Lily said, "now let me catch a few more Z's." she said turning over.

"I've never known anyone like you in my whole entire life!" Helena said looking amazed, "who would choose going back to sleep over opening Christmas presents?"

"Me, that's who!" Lily said, she really wasn't a morning person.

"No you don't, you're getting up." Helena pulled Lily's quilt off her bed, and was about to pull off her sheet, when Lily reluctantly agreed to get up, as long as Helena didn't wreck her bed anymore.

Helena told her that they would open their presents in the common room with James and Sirius. So she pulled a dressing gown over her pyjamas, picked up her pile of presents and followed Helena out of the dorm.

They found Sirius and James in the common room with their presents, each looking longingly at their gifts.

"It's about time!" Sirius said when he saw them, "we've been here for about half an hour already."

"Blame Lily." Helena said as she settled down in an armchair and began to open her presents. The others took this as a cue to get started so they each got to work on their separate piles.

There were the usual ooh's and aah's and thankyou's every now and then. Lily had received presents from Helena, Sirius, Remus, James, Peter and Jessica (her other best friend). She had also received a present or two from members of her family, and finally she had only one unwrapped present to open. The present had no tag, and before opening it she sat and thought of who could have sent it to her. Helena, having unwrapped all of her presents in the blink of an eye, was watching Lily now.

"Lily, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Wondering who sent me this," she said, "it hasn't got a label on it."

Helena couldn't believe her friends stupidity. She rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you open it? It probably says who it's from on the inside."

"Lily tore off the red paper quickly. Out of it fell a wooden box, beautifully carved by hand. On the lid there was an intricate picture painted. The picture showed a beautiful woman with dark hair dressed in red standing next to a pit of swirling waters. Lily looked at the picture curiously, and snapped open the little box. She gasped. Inside was the most beautiful piece of jewellery she had ever seen. On a red velvet lining lay a necklace made of gold. From the chain, a pendant hung. The pendant was that of a golden sun and sunk in the middle there was a blood red stone, shining in the light. Below each of the suns rays, a small symbol was carved. Lily gazed at it in wonder. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She held it closer to her eyes so she could see the small symbols carved under each of the rays. They were little pictures. What looked like a lion, an eagle, two knives, two rectangles, a zigzag, two rectangles and another eagle.

The others noticed her staring intensely into the box, and asked what was inside it. Lily carefully lifted the necklace out of the box and held it up for the others to see.

Helena squealed.

"That's gorgeous! Who sent it to you?"

Lily looked at her sardonically.

"Helena. You know just as well as I do, that there is no label." Lily replied.

"Can I see?" Helena asked, "what were you looking at, you know when you were holding it really close to your eyes?"

"Yes you can see, and I was looking at those funny little symbols beneath the sun rays." Lily said and passed it to Helena who looked at it in wonder.

"Whoever sent you that must be bloody rich!" James said, looking at the necklace over Helena's shoulder, "It must have cost a fortune!"

"Hey, these pictures are hieroglyphics." Helena said studying them.

"Bless you!" Sirius said.

Helena glared at him.

"Have you never heard of hieroglyphics? You know, egyptian writing?" Helena asked them.

Lily and James nodded, but Sirius shook his head vigorously.

"Well the egyptians use pictures instead of letters when they write stuff." Helena explained to Sirius.

"Do you know what it says?" Lily asked. The necklace was puzzling her. Who'd send her such an expensive gift, without even saying who it was from?

"Well, not off by heart, but I have a book!" Helena said.

"Well go get it then." James said.

As Helena hurried off up the stairs, Sirius could be heard saying "why would Helena have a book about higlyphics? I mean it's not as if she's clever."

And Helena shouted back down, "I heard that!"

A few minutes later, she hurried back down the stairs, carrying a heavy old book. She set the book down on the table and opened it to the section about hieroglyphics.

"Okay, here, look: Ancient Egyptians used the pictures to represent letters of the alphabet. Use the table below to help you when deciphering hieroglyphics." she read out.

Lily picked up the necklace and told Helena what the symbols were.

"Okay, the first one's a lion, I think." she said.

Helena consulted the book, and soon found the one Lily was describing.

"That's not a lion! That's a sphynx. And the letter it represents is L." Helena said.

"Okay, the next one's an eagle."

Again, Helena consulted the book, and they found that the eagle represented the letter A. They repeated this process five more times, and the word that they came up with in the end was Lavinia.

"Lavinia?" said James puzzled, "that's a girls name, isn't it?"

"Yes, I think so," Lily replied, "I guess it's just the name of the person who owned it."

"Hey! What are we all doing sitting around like this?" Sirius exclaimed, "I'm hungry! Let's go down for breakfast." Sirius began heading for the portrait hole, and was about to step out when he realised that he still had his pyjama's on. Lily looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, um, I'll just go now." he said blushing, he turned and hurried up the boys staircase.

Lily and Helena also went to get dressed. Lily put on the necklace and was surprised at the weight of it. She supposed that the gigantic ruby was what made it heavy.

When they were dressed they went down to the Great Hall and ate breakfast. Christmas Day was spent like any other, and Lily insisted on them going skating again.

Though the snow was beginning to thaw, the ice on the lake was still solid, but they were wary, and didn't go too near the middle.

They stepped gingerly onto the ice, and were pleased to find that it was indeed frozen solid. James, Sirius and Helena still hadn't got the hang of it yet so they slipped and slid and fell over while Lily skated off around the edge of the huge lake. Aftera while, Helena got fed up of falling over so she went and sat on a log near the edge of the ice. She watched as Lily skated around gracefully and as Sirius and James fell over clumsily. She laughed as Sirius fell over and slid on his bottom into the centre of the ice. But she stopped laughing when the sound of cracking ice resounded around the grounds and Sirius began to slide into the water.

Helena stood up, wanting to help, but she knew that she wouldn't make it to the centre of the ice without falling over and making the situation worse. She could see Lily skating slowly over the ice where it was thin. The nearer she got to the hole where Sirius had fallen in, the thinner the ice got. Lily held her breath as she knelt down next to the hole. The ice was going to break, she knew it. She coud see Sirius a little way below the surface. His hand was outstretched as if trying to reach out of the water. Lily plunged her hand down into the freezing water, and tried to grasp his. Finally she found it and pulled upwards as hard as she could, but Sirius was heavy, and his now waterlogged clothes were not helping. She put her other hand into the water and grasped his wrist with it. She pulled upwards with all her might, and he came up! She pulled him over the edge, and dragged him onto a thicker part of ice. Then all her energy used up, she fainted.

Lily woke up to find herself staring into dark brown eyes.

She sat up, and tried to remember what had happened. Then it all came back to her, Sirius under the water, she had pulled him out.

"Sirius! Where's Sirius, is he okay?" she asked James, who's eyes she had been looking into.

"Yeah, Sirius is fine, he was out cold for a while but he's fine now." James reassured her.

Lily could see that they were still outside sitting by the lake. Someone had conjured up a thick blanket and covered her with it.

"How long was I asleep for?" she asked.

"Only a couple of minutes. When you'd pulled Sirius out of the water, you just sort of fainted, and me and Helena came and dragged both of you off the ice." James said.

Lily looked around her and saw Sirius and Helena sitting a few metres away. She stood up, and walked shakily over to them. James followed her.

"Hey Sirius, how you feeling?" Lily asked him.

"I'm fine. You?" he replied.

"Yeah I'm alright." she told him.

"Lily, thanks, for saving me." Sirius said.

Lily smiled at him.

"That's alright." she said, but as Helena's had a few minutes earlier, her smile vanished, and instead was replaced by a scream. Approaching the, from out of the forest was a huge bear.

The others turned to look at what she was screaming at.

"Oh. My. God." was Helena's reaction.

They stood there, mouths opening and closing like goldfish for a few seconds, and then James brought them back to reality.

"You girls, go, run, go back up to the castle, we'll be alright!" James said.

"But! You're no match for a bear like that!" Lily said, as the bear came ever closer.

"We're not, I know, but we will be." James said, "now go!" he pushed the girls in the direction of the castle and they ran.

When they were gone, James and Sirius transformed into their animal counterparts.

As a stag and dog, the bear saw them as a threat and began to advance quicker.

As they ran back up to the castle, Lily glanced back, and saw that James and Sirius were no longer there, and that a creamy white stag and a large black dog were fighting the bear. _Where were the boys! _was her first thought, then _what if the stag and dog were the boys?_

***

Fifteen minutes later, the two boys joined Lily and Helena in the common room. They each had a fair share of cuts and bruises, but apart from that they were fine. When they sauntered into the common room, Lily stood up and rushed over to them, engulfing them both in a bear hug. (no pun intended!)

"How did you fight it off?" Helena asked.

"When it saw what it was up against, it ran away, as tame as a cat." Sirius said.

"Yeah right," Lily said, "you know what I saw?"

They shook their heads.

"I saw a stag and a dog fighting the bear, and you two were nowhere to be seen. How d'you explain that then?"

"Um, I don't know? Maybe it was just your imagination?" James said.

  
"Yeah of course it was," Lily said sarcastically, "if I didn't know better, I'd say you were animagi."

She watched them shrewdly as they exchanged a glance.

"Where would you get an idea like that!" Sirius said, a worried look on his face.

"You are, aren't you!" Lily said, "you're animagi!"

"Shh! Yes we are, but keep your voice down! It is illegal you know!" James said.

"Oh sorry," Lily said, then added, "are Remus and Peter Animagi too?"

She saw them exchange another worried glance.

"Yeah, they're both Animagi too." Sirius said.

"Ooh, let me guess, Peter is a rat!" Helena said.

They looked at her in surprise.

"How did you know?" James asked incredilously.

"Well I've always thought of him as a rat." Helena said.

The rest of Christmas day passed quite quickly. There was of course a sumptuous dinner, and large wizard crackers to pull. When Lily pulled her first cracker, it exploded with such a force that it singed the end of her hair. Her second cracker was filled with white rats, that bit her, until she found her wand and transfigured them into buttons. Her third and final cracker was filled with wasps which circled the table and stung the four friends.

Lily couldn't believe her bad luck. Three crackers in a row had had bad things come out of them. She didn't dare pull a third one, just in case.

Much later on, Lily lay on her bed playing with the little box. She kept opening and closing it as if this would tell her who it was from. She thought back to when she had read 'Five on a Treasure Island' by Enid Blyton. The mysterious box in that had had a false bottom. Perhaps this box had one too.

She began feeling around the edges inside the little box. To her surprise and delight, she found a little catch in a corner. She pushed it and nothing happened. She tried teisting it and as she had thought, the box had a flase bottom. It sprang up, so she inserted her fingers into the gap that had formed. She pulled the false bottom upwards and it came away in her hand. In the box there were three objects: a ring and two pieces of very old parchment .

She looked at the ring. It was made from gold, and had the same blood coloured stone in the centre as the necklace. It also had the same symbols on it, hieroglyphics, in the same order of those on the necklace. She put it aside and picked up the pieces of parchment.

The pieces of parchment were nearly falling apart with age, and were very yellow in colour. Very gently Lily opened the first piece. Luckily, the writing wasn't in hieroglyphics, but in a cursive calligraphy. The words were hard to make out, but she managed to read them. This is what it said on the parchment :

__

Wear this necklace always,

Not to do so would be a sin.

Keep it close to you,

Even when lights are dim

This necklace holds a power,

A power in your heart.

For this necklace is a bad luck charm.

While you continue wearing it,

Bad luck will bestow you and your friends,

And as you will find, Bad Luck never ends.

A charm like this is good for some,

For this is the pendant of Red Rum.

Lily looked at the parchment in horror. A bad luck necklace! But who could have sent it?

She picked up the second piece of parchment and read it.

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21st January 1927

My Darling Lavinia,

Troubled times are near, and I fear for your safety, especially in your condition. I promise you that I shall be back in time for the birth, and death. I haven't got long to explain things, but I'll try the best I can. A man in the 'real world' is planning to come to the Auriga, and overtake it. He is a very well known physician, going by the name of Dr John Miles. Other names he may use are Mr Robert Williams and Professor Samuel Jones. He has found out from the Gypsies of _Cepheus about the Danira and how it can be used to pass through to Auriga. The gypsies won't tell him what they know about how to use the Danira, but he will find out. He says that it will take him many years to figure it out, but he knows that he will. He has predicted that he will have found a way in to Auriga in the next fifty years. He is a young man, so this is quite possible. I beg you to warn your people of the danger that will arise sometime in the next century. I have to leave now. Remember that I will always love you._

Yours forever

Charles


	3. Where the hell is Auriga?

Red Rum

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26th December 1973

Helena Poole, a hyperactive sixteen year old Gryffindor, awoke early in the morning as usual. And, as usual, she decided to awake her roommate and best friend, Lily Evans.

Helena had come to bed very late the night before, so hadn't had a chance to speak to Lily, as she had been asleep. This meant she was surprised to find her sprawled on her stomach, with a little wooden box before her and a piece of old parchment clutched in her hand.

"Lily?" she shook her friend awake.

"Mmm? What?" Lily replied, sitting up, though still not fully awake.

"Lily, it's morning, wake up." Helena said.

Lily slowly awoke and as she did, remembered what she had read the night before. She looked at the yellowing parchment in her hand to make sure she hadn't been dreaming.

She paled as she read the parchment's through again. Helena saw her expression, and asked what was wrong.

"I was messing about with the box last night, and I found that it had a false bottom. In the new compartment there was a ring, and two pieces of parchment." Lily handed Helena the pieces of parchment, and Helena read through them, when she had finished, she paled as Lily had done.

"Oh my God Lily, this is bad." she said, "really, really bad."

"Gee Helena, thanks for the morale booster." Lily replied.

"I know I'm sorry," she said grinning, but then her face fell, "but this is really really bad."

"I know!" Lily moaned, "but it would explain all the bad things that happened yesterday. You know, the ice, the bear and the crackers."

"Yeah, but I've read about these Lily, one man had a bad luck charm and eventually he couldn't stand the bad luck hurting his friends anymore, so he killed himself!"

"Why didn't he just take it off?" Lily asked.

"Because you can't. Once it's on, it stays on." Helena said.

Lily tried to undo the clasp of the necklace, but Helena was right. She couldn't undo it. It was stuck on forever.

"D'you think they have any books in the library about it? You know, bad luck charms, and those things that are mentioned in the letter, the Danira, the Gypsies of Cephius and Auriga?" Helena asked her.

"I don't know. There could be. We'll go there after breakfast." Lily decided.

They dressed hurriedly and then rushed down to breakfast. James and Sirius were already there.

Lily and Helena bolted down their cereal in two minutes flat, and then dashed off to the library with Sirius and James looking at them as if they were mad.

They arrived at the library, and began searching the shelves for mention of bad luck charms, the Danira, the Gypsies of Cepheus and Auriga.

They pulled numerous books off the shelves and poured over them at one of the tables. Lily soon found a book that looked like it could be useful. It was entitled M_edallion's, Pendant's and Other Such Magical Objects._

Lily opened it and found that it did indeed contain a section on Bad Luck Charms. She quickly flipped to page 564, and found that there were pictures of the bad luck charms. She was amazed to find that bad luck charms could be contained in almost anything, even other living organisms. On page 568, she found herself looking at a drawing of the necklace around her neck, and the ring that she had found in the box. She began to read the text that went with the pictures.

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The Pendant of Red Rum

This bad luck charm is one of the most potent known to human being. It consists of a beautiful ruby set in a surround of pure gold shaped like a sun. On each of the suns rays, there is a small symbol, which many people believe to be hieroglyphics. From the primitive sightings of the charm, we know this, though we cannot begin to think what the hieroglyphics spell out. We know that the Pendant is very old, more than 1,000 years to be precise. Many of the cleverest scientists have puzzled over the name of the pendant. Why Red Rum? Many say that it is because the stone is red, but others say that it is an anagram, of what, we don't know. The last known owner of the pendant was a woman named Queen Lavinia. She was the ruler of a beautiful city in the sky named Auriga. (For more information on Auriga see Other Worlds We've Heard of But You Haven't_) She died at the age of thirty, and was known to have borne one son, who to this day has disappeared. Whoever wears the necklace will find that it cannot be removed with their own hands, though it is possible to remove it using the Ring of Red Rum._

The Ring of Red Rum

The Ring of Red Rum is the only known way to be rid of the necklace. But alone, it will not remove the necklace. If you are in possession of the pendant and the ring (which I seriously doubt), here is how you should go about removing it. Firstly, you need to find the Danira, which is currently in the possession of the Gypsies of Cepheus. When you have done this, you need to use the Danira to travel to Auriga. Once in Auriga you will need to find the Supreme Power, and they will tell you whatever else you need to know.

When Lily had finished reading these pages, she let out a long breath that she had been holding in. Presently, Helena showed her what she had found out. Lily found herself reading a passage about the magical city of Auriga.

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Auriga

Auriga is a magical city in the Southern sky. Its occupants are mainly female, though there are a few male inhabitants. Auriga is one of the many "other worlds" that there are. Together there are over a million "other worlds". Other known worlds are Horologium, Ophichusa, Pavol and Tucanavela. _The occupants of Auriga are very powerful, perhaps the most powerful beings in the universe. No one knows how they acquired this great power, though it could be through charms, amulets and pendants passed down through many generations. To Natives of Auriga, there is only one known access to the great city. This is through the Danira. The Danira is currently in possession of the Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus, and has been since 1886. The Danira is a chalice filled with dancing blue flames. When held in a particular position, a person can travel through the flames into Auriga._

The Monarchy of Auriga

Queen Juliet 1644 – 1699

Queen Jasmine1699 – 1777

Queen Anna1777 – 1802

Queen Emma1802 – 1824

Queen Sophia`1824 – 1844

Queen Christabel1844 – 1926

Queen Lavinia1926 – 1927

Queen Heather1927

The most powerful of all these Monarchs was Queen Lavinia. She was the owner of the Pendant and Ring of Red Rum, which gave her the supreme power. Unfortunately Queen Lavinia was only in reign for one year, due to her death at child birth.

"This explains everything!" Lily said.

"Does it?" Helena asked.

"Yes, of course it does." Lily said.

"How?" Helena replied.

"Well, it explains all the things mentioned in the letter," Lily said, "it explains about Auriga, the Danira and who the Gypsies of Cepheus are."

"Yeah. But what should we do next?" Helena said.

"I don't know. I'll think about it tonight, and tell you what we should do tomorrow." Lily said.

Helena nodded, and the two of them went back to the common room.

***

Lily was floating. She was floating above a beautiful city full of bright lights, pinks, blues and soft colours. In the centre of the city there was a golden castle with high turrets and battlements running around the edges. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She floated down to the ground where an old lady dressed in purple crushed velvet. The old lady spoke to her.

"Custode del ciondolo, Il bambino perdonato. You must come to Auriga. Come here, to live out your destiny."

She floated off, up, up, up into the sky like a bird.

***

Lily woke up breathing hard. The old woman in her dream had told her what to do. She shook Helena awake and told her.

"What should we do now?" Helena whispered.

"Go to Dumbledore. Explain it all. Hopefully he'll let us go to Auriga and I'll be able to 'live out my destiny'"

__

***

"Auriga, you say? Yes, I've heard of it. In myth of course. It's quite ludicrous to think that there could actually be a place." Dumbledore said.

"But, Sir, you've seen the parchments, the ring and the necklace. Surely that's proof enough that the place does exist?" Lily said.

"Hmm. This could all be a big hoax, but I do know the Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus. Well, I say I know them. I know their Queen. The Gypsy Queen Rona. She was quite beautiful in her day." Dumbledore sighed, but Helena and Lily's giggles brought him out of his daydream.

"Where was I? Oh yes, The Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus. Yes, well, I could send you there, and you could see what the Gypsy's of Cepheus have to say about the whole business. I'll arrange a Portkey for you, at say about six o'clock tonight. Okay?"

Lily and Helena nodded, smiling.

"Do we need to pack anything?" Helena asked.

"Collect together a rucksack of clothes, make sure to pack a formal dress. From what you've told me it seems you will not be able to enter Auriga without being dressed formally. you can use your wands for food and drink." Dumbledore said.

The girls nodded and left Dumbledore's office to go and pack clothes.

The girls packed mainly summer clothes (Muggle of course), because Cepheus lay just off the Equator.

They were about to leave the common room and go and meet Dumbledore, when James and Sirius came rushing into the room through the portrait hole.

  
"Where are you going?" James asked.

"Um, a place called Cepheus." Lily replied.

James narrowed his eyes.

"That doesn't tell us anything. Where is Cepheus?" he said.

"Um, near Hogsmeade?" Helena said.

"Yeah, right, I've known you long enough to know when you're lying, Helena." Sirius said.

"Oh, all right! It's a place near the equator, and we're going there because of this!" Lily said, lifting the pendant out of her robes.

"What will you gain from going there?" James asked, obviously confused.

"Hopefully I'll find a way to get it off, and a way into Auriga." Lily replied.

"Auriga?" James said scratching his head, "where the hell is that?"

"A place in the sky," Helena said helpfully, "and the place where Lily will be able to "live out her destiny or something."

"You're having us on, aren't you?" James asked.

"No, we're seriously going halfway around the world, then into a city in the sky!" Lily said, "you can ask Dumbledore, he's arranged a Portkey for us."

"Okay, so you're not having us on, so does that mean we can come with you?" Sirius asked looking excited.

"Well, I suppose you could be a help." Lily said.

"But you could also be a hindrance." Helena finished Lily's sentence for her.

"Aw! Please let us come! We'll be really really good!" Sirius said making a puppy dog face.

"I suppose so, as long as Dumbledore agrees." Lily said, "but hurry up and go pack, we have to catch the Portkey in fifteen minutes."

James and Sirius ran back up the stairs and returned just seconds later, rucksacks slung over their shoulders, and dressed in Muggle summer clothes.

They hurried to Dumbledore's office and told the stone gargoyle the password, "pear drops."

They walked up the moving staircase, and found Dumbledore waiting for them. On his desk lay a mouldy doughnut with green ooze coming out of the side.

"Ah, girls, I see you have picked up Mr Potter and Mr Black on your travels."

"Um, yeah," Lily said, "is it alright if they come with us?"

"Well, I don't know. I don't really want them to miss lessons." Dumbledore replied.

"Aw, go on," said Helena, "there may be troubles ahead, and big strong men like these could really help us in the face of danger."

James and Sirius looked at her strangely, but Dumbledore thoughtfully.

"Yes, I can see your point. The boys may go with you. But, hurry come over here and each take a hold of this doughnut."

They all walked over to his desk and picked up the moulding doughnut, looking a bit repulsed. Dumbledore began to count down from ten.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"

They felt a jerk at their bellybuttons and felt themselves being spun around up into the air.

They landed with a thump on a hard leafy floor. Standing up and brushing themselves off they looked around themselves. They were in what looked like a forest, the trees towered high above them, and beyond the trees was a beautiful blue sky with big black birds circling overhead.

They began walking, on what looked like a rough dirt track. Where to, they didn't know. They walked for about five minutes, and came to a clearing. Here they decided to sit down and assess the situation.

"I suggest we just keep on walking until we find the Gypsies, I suppose." Helena said.

They all nodded, then Lily held up her hand in a signal for everyone to be quiet.

"Shh. Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked James.

"I don't know, I just heard a noise." Lily said, and shrugged, "it was probably nothing; don't worry."

They continued talking but their conversation was brought to a dramatic close when all four of them felt sharp knives pressed against their necks.

A/N I'm evil, aren't I! A cliff hanger! If you review, you get the next part even quicker!


	4. The Gypsies of Cephius

Red Rum

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27th December 2001

"Who are you and what are you doing in our forest?" said one of the figures standing behind them. In his arms he held Helena, with a knife pressed to her neck. The others were in the same predicament, each with a man standing behind them, a knife pressed to their throats.

"Please let us go! We only came here to see the Gypsies of Cephius about the Danira!" Lily said, almost crying.

Immediately, the grip on her arm was loosened.

"Did you say the Danira?" he asked roughly.

"Yes! We came to find out about that and a place called Auriga!" Lily said. This time the man let go of her completely.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Lily Evans. Can you let my friends go now?"

"Yes." He signalled to the other three men and they too released their grips on them.

They too turned to face the men. The men had tan coloured skin, and dark brown hair. They were wearing beige deerskin trousers and rough brown leather waistcoats over bare chests.

"Lily Evans. Welcome." They bowed to her. She glanced at Helena in surprise. They were treating her as some sort of Royalty.

"Who are you?" she asked warily.

"My name is John LeSavine. These are my brothers Samuel, Zachariah and Alberto. We belong to the Gypsy Tribe of Cepheus."

"Oh! You're the people we've been looking for! Can you take us to the rest of your tribe?" Lily asked, "we need to speak with them."

"Of course Custode del Ciondolo Bambino Perdonato." John said.

"Pardon, I didn't quite catch that." Lily said.

"I said, of course Custode del Ciondolo Bambino Perdonato." John repeated.

"That's what the lady in my dream said! What does that mean though?" she said.

"It's your name. What we call you. It means Keeper of the Necklace, the Forgiven Child. It has been handed down through many generations. One day we knew you would come to us." John said. They had now begun to walk.

"Why am I called the Forgiven Child?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure. Questions like that are best to be asked of Queen Rona."

"She's the one Dumbledore mentioned." Helena said joining in the conversation. Behind them, James and Sirius were talking with Samuel, Zachariah and Alberto about something or other.

Presently, they reached the Gypsies camp. The Queen hadn't awoken from her "Siesta" yet, so John and his brothers introduced them to the tribe.

"This is Carina Rigel, and her husband Orion Crux." He indicated a couple to their left, "and this is Cassiopeia Lacerta and her husband Caelum Volans."

"Hey, you all have names that are the same as stars!" Sirius said.

"Yes, they were born when the names of stars were fashionable." Alberto said.

"And what about you?" Samuel asked of Sirius, "why are you named after a star?"

"I don't know, all my family are. My brothers are called Leo and Perseus, and my sisters are called Andromeda and Auriga. My Mum is called Gemini and my Dad is called Pavo. I guess it's kind of a tradition in our family."

The other Gypsies nodded, and went back to what they were doing.

The four friends sat down on rough logs and ate the food that Alberto handed them. Just then, the door of one of the brightly coloured caravans was flung open. At the top of the steps stood the oldest looking woman Lily had ever seen. Her face was lined with wrinkles, and the long plait that lay down her back was a dark grey colour. She had a scarf over her head, and in her ears wore huge golden hoops. Her eyes were dark and piercing as she looked at Lily, Helena, James and Sirius. She walked slowly down the steps, not once taking her eyes off the four strangers. She then spoke to Samuel in a rough, cracked harsh voice.

"Samuel! Fetch me my crystal. I want to read the girl."

Samuel hurried off into another of the gaily coloured caravans, and the Gypsy Queen spoke again in her acient cracked voice.

"Zachariah! Set up the table."

Zachariah began to set up a table that consisted of three logs. He then threw a heavy red velvet cloth over it. Lily, Helena, Sirius and James watched with curiosity. Just then, Samuel returned with a beautiful jewelled box. He set it down on the table, bowed to Queen Rona, and retreated to the outside of the clearing.

The Gypsy Queen sat down on one side of the table, and motioned for Lily to sit opposite her. Lily did hesitantly.

The Queen looked down into the swirling mist of the Crystal Ball, Lily looked too, but she couldn't see anything. The Queen, though, evidently could.

"I see danger. I see a boy burning, and a girl dead. That is the near future. In the distant future I see an evil power. You are dead, and so is your lover. But a baby survives. A hero." She paused, "I am finished. I will read the other girl. Bring me my cards."

Alberto hurried off into the caravan while Helena sat down across from Queen Rona. Alberto soon returned holding a pack of cards in his hands. He placed them on the table in front of queen Rona, and he bowed, and walked back to his place on a log.

The Queen shuffled the cards and began dealing them out.

"The fool," she said putting the first card down, then she dealt out two more cards, "the fool's friend, the oaf, and the oaf's brother, the Village Idiot. It is obvious what you are. You're stupid, that's you."

Helena looked indignant, but then the Queen began to deal out the cards again.

"A princess," she said in her clipped, cracked voice, "how unusual. And the last card is," she paused and dealt out the final card, "the devil."

The Gypsies sitting on the logs around the edge of the clearing gasped. An unusual outcome: The Princess followed by The Devil.

The Queen pursed her lips, and began gathering her cards up.

"I am done. You will stay here tonight, yes? Friends must stick together. Especially in troubled times" She then stood up and slowly walked back into her caravan.

Zachariah, and two other Gypsies sombrely packed away the table and red velvet cloth. Helena was having a whispered conversation with Lily, James and Sirius.

"What's wrong?" Helena asked, "why are they all looking like that?"

"I don't know, I think it's something to do with the cards." James replied.

"Yeah, Lily, you do Divination, what does The Princess followed by The Devil mean in a pack of Gypsy Fortune Cards?" Sirius asked.

"Well, The Princess means good fortune, and luck, but The Devil means bad fortune and bad luck. I guess it's unusual to have both come up in one person's reading."

Their conversation was stopped there because John came over and showed them a place on the forest floor where they could sleep. They thanked him and he went to fetch them blankets. By now, all the Gypsies had retired to their caravans.

Helena and Sirius fell asleep immediately, but Lily and James stayed awake for a long time.

Lily lay looking up at the stars, she could just make out a few of the constellations. She sighed.

"Are you alright?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about what Queen Rona said. You know all that stuff about a boy burning, and a girl dead? What if-" she paused, "what if, the boy she was talking about was you, and the girl was Helena? I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to either of you."

"Don't think like that. Nothing's going to happen to us." James said, "and anyway, I thought that you didn't believe in all that Divination stuff?"

"Well, I don't, not usually, but what the Queen was doing seemed genuine. I mean, all the stuff Trelawney does is obviously fake, but, I don't know, I believed the stuff the Queen was telling me." She paused, and James could see tears glistening on her face. "I'm just so scared! What's going to happen to us?"

"Shh! Come here." James said, holding his arms out for her. She gratefully settled herself in his arms, and he kissed the top of her head.

They fell asleep that way, completely unaware of what lay ahead of them.

***

A/N: That chapter was completely pointless. Got a bit mushy at the end there. Oh well. Please review, because now that Hit Recording has been disabled, I have no other way of knowing how many people have read this. Thanks ~ Little Witch.


	5. The Labyrinth

  
Red Rum  
  
Chapter 4 - Labyrinth  
  
The next morning dawned bright and clear. Lily awoke with a sore back, and a stiff neck. The others soon awoke, and they also complained of sore limbs.  
  
Although it was only half past six, all of the Gypsies were up, and they seemed to be setting something up. After washing in a nearby spring, Lily, Helena, James and Sirius went over to them and asked what they were doing.  
  
"We're getting things ready for your journey to Auriga." was the only reply they could get.  
  
The Gypsies had put a long thin red carpet on the floor of the clearing, similar to those that royalty would use. At the end of the carpet a hut had been erected. The roof, and three of walls were made from a shiny material, but the entrance was hung with heavy red velvet curtains. These were pulled back to reveal what was inside the hut.  
  
In the middle of the hut stood the same table that Queen Rona had used for the fortune telling. On the table was a beautiful chalice, filled to the brim with dancing blue flames. It was the Danira.  
  
"Wow! That's beautiful!" exclaimed Helena.  
  
"Of course. Did you expect something ugly?" said John, a strange glint in his eye.  
  
"No, no!" Helena said, looking slightly scared.  
  
"Perhaps you should go and get ready. Pack rucksacks. Take food, matches, spare clothes and your formal wear."  
  
"Yes of course," Lily replied, also looking slightly scared. The Gypsies had seemed very friendly the day before, and now they didn't seem very friendly at all.  
  
By now, the Gypsies had finished setting everything up, and all they had to do now, was await the arrival of Queen Rona.  
  
"I've noticed a strange thing," James said.  
  
"What?" the others asked, looking curious.  
  
"Since we've been here, there's been no bad luck, and Lily hasn't taken off the necklace or anything. How do you explain that?"  
  
"I can't." Lily said, shrugging.  
  
"You have had no bad luck because I have enforced a shield around you. A shield that will protect you from bad luck for forty days and forty nights." A voice said from behind them. They whirled around, and found themselves face to face with Queen Rona.  
  
"I knew that you would befriend us, and I didn't want your bad luck to affect us too. So I cast a spell," The Queen explained, "the time has come for you to enter Auriga through the Danira. But be warned, you will not go directly to Auriga. There will be many worlds with barriers for you to get through first. I cannot say what they are, for I do not know."  
  
They nodded.  
  
"How is the Danira activated?" Sirius asked.  
  
"You need not worry about that. All you need do is walk slowly from one end of the red carpet to the other. Start at this end." The Queen said, pointing at one end of the carpet.  
  
They walked to the end of the carpet, and waited for the Queen's signal.  
  
All of a sudden, a jaunty style music began from nowhere. This was their signal to begin walking along the red carpet.  
  
They began to walk along the carpet, and were suddenly bathed in a pale blue light. They felt themselves being lifted off the ground, as if by a pair of invisible hands. After what seemed like hours, but was only about a few seconds, they floated back down to the ground, and landed gently with a soft thud on a white floor.  
  
Standing up, they looked around. They were in a large white room that was completely empty apart from a white desk in the corner. Behind the white desk sat a small man. The man looked like an Elf, and he too was dressed in white. Even his skin was the palest of white. He had a long white beard and moustache, large pointed ears and little round glasses perched on his nose.  
  
In their brightly coloured clothes, they looked very out of place. Hesitantly they approached the little man. The little man looked up and pointed a stubby finger at them.  
  
"A-ha! I've caught you! Now don't deny it! Thumbelina sent you, didn't she?"  
  
"What? We don't know what you're talking about! We've never even heard of Thumbelina!" Lily said.  
  
"Oh. Well. That's all right then. Who are you if you don't know Thumby?"  
  
"Well I'm Lily, and these are my friends Helena, James and Sirius."  
  
"I see, I see." Said the man, not really seeing at all, "well I suppose I'd better introduce myself too, hadn't I?"  
  
"..."  
  
"I see. I am Sebastian Jumpturn. I am the gatekeeper of this erm, of this, ah, place."  
  
"What exactly is this place? We don't really know where we are." Lily said.  
  
"I see. Well you are in the Lobby." Said Sebastian, as if this would explain everything.  
  
"The Lobby of what?" asked James.  
  
"The Lobby of what! I say young people these days!" he tutted for a bit, then continued, "the Lobby of the Labyrinth of course."  
  
"The Labyrinth?"  
  
"Yes. I thought everyone knew about the Labyrinth!" said Sebastian.  
  
"I can think of a few people who probably don't." said Sirius.  
  
"Well the Labyrinth is one of the many obstacles you have to cross before you can enter Auriga. That is where you're going, isn't it?"  
  
They nodded.  
  
"I see. Well you need to get from one end of the Labyrinth to the other without dieing. Then you will go onto the next task. There is a Lobby at the beginning of each task area, and there will always be a gatekeeper."  
  
"Okay. How many tasks are there?"  
  
"How should I know? I've never had the need to go to Auriga." Sebastian replied.  
  
"Well, I suppose we'd better get going then."  
  
"Yes you had! You've been here long enough! Wasting my time like that! Now get going!" Sebastian pushed them through a white door they hadn't noticed before.  
  
He called after them "And if you see Thumby tell her I'm not interested!" then he shook his fist and walked back over to his desk, muttering about solitude and loneliness.  
  
***  
  
"Right."  
  
"That was weird."  
  
They were in a place that could only be described as...scary. Tall trees towered miles above them, casting a gloom over the whole place. Wild animal cries could be heard throughout, and the fact that it was dark didn't help.  
  
In front of them was a large archway, similar to those that there were in botanical gardens, and such places, apart from the fact that the leaves covering it were brown and curled, the flowers were dead and wilted, and there were rats crawling all over it.  
  
"Um, I suppose we'd better go through here then?" Sirius said.  
  
"Yeah, suppose so."   
  
They walked through the archway and found themselves in a long passage. On either side of them there were tall stone walls. They began to walk along the passage.  
  
"Okay. Labyrinth is another word for maze, and you can always find your way out of a maze if you keep to the left hand side." Helena said.  
  
"Right."  
  
They carried on walking, and soon reached a fork in the passage. They took Helena's advice and went down the left hand passage. As soon as they stepped into the passageway, it went dark.  
  
"Hey! Who turned the lights out?" James shouted.  
  
His voice echoed around them, and the vibrations awoke a colony of bats. The bats swooped low over their heads, causing them to scream.  
  
They ran as fast as they could out of the dark passageway, and to their relief when they reached the end of it, their surroundings were suddenly filled with light.  
  
They continued on their way, turning left whenever there was a corner or fork. After a couple of hours of walking, they were getting no-where.  
  
"Helena are you sure that you have to keep turning left? It doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere." Said Lily.  
  
"Positive. I read it in a book." Replied Helena.  
  
"You read too much." Sirius said, and they continued on their way.  
  
Five minutes later, they came to a dead end.  
  
***  
  
"Dr Robert! Dr Robert! I've got it! I've found a way!"  
  
"What is it Jones?"  
  
"I've found a way into Auriga! Finally after fifty years I've found it!" shouted Jones.  
  
"What do you mean Jones? You haven't found a way. I have." He glared at the little man. "I'm the one who found the way, aren't I Jones?" he sneered nastily.  
  
Jones bowed clumsily.  
  
"Yes Sir. Of course you invented it. But when are you going to try it out?"  
  
"Immediately of course. Why should I waste any more time?" Dr Robert Miles smiled spitefully.  
  
"What are you going to do when you get there Dr Robert?" Jones said.  
  
"I'm going to take it over of course. I've been wanting to do that for years. You see Jones, Auriga is the most powerful world. If I take it over, I will be the most powerful man. And when I destroy Auriga, the rest of the world shall be destroyed in the process." Dr Miles said.  
  
"Why Dr Robert?"  
  
"Why are you questioning my judgement? I am doing this for the Great Lord. It is what he wants me to do.  
  
"Are you sure Dr Robert?"  
  
"Positive, Jones. Now. I am going to get ready. Prepare the bridge."  
  
"Yes Dr Robert. Right away Dr Robert." Jones muttered.  
  
The prospect of having a new world to take over has clouded his judgement. He believes that The Great Lord has told him to do this. But the Great Lord only wants to defeat Muggles and Mudbloods. Not the whole world.  
  
***  
  
"Great. Helena your reading has brought us to a dead end. Now we're going to have to go all the way back and start again!" James said, looking angry.  
  
"No, we won't. Just a minute." Helena got down on her hands and knees, and crawled around. She seemed to be searching for something.  
  
"Okay. We've lost her. She's gone completely mad." Sirius said.  
  
"What are you looking for?" Lily asked.  
  
"A way out." Helena said, "A-ha! Found it!"  
  
"Found what?" James said, exasperated.  
  
"A way out of course." She pointed to a small hole near the floor.  
  
"How did you know it was there?" Lily asked in amazement.  
  
"I have this book. It's called 1001 Ways to Get Out of A Maze. Number 41: When at a dead end, always search near the ground for a way out."  
  
"Okay. Lets go through the hole then." James said.   
  
"After you," Lily replied smiling.  
  
"Isn't it supposed to be ladies first or something?" James said grumbling.  
  
"Exactly. That's why you have to go first!"  
  
"Hey!" Lily glared at him, "Alright! Alright! Fine!" James squeezed through the small hole.  
  
"Is it safe?" Lily called after him.  
  
"I don't know. It's dark in here," He sneezed, "and dusty too."  
  
Lily shrugged. "Oh well." And she too squeezed through the hole. Sirius and Helena followed, and they found themselves in darkness. Lily, being the practical one took out her wand, and said "lumos."  
  
"Oh! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.  
  
They were in a small cave, that had been hollowed out of the rock. In the centre of the cave was a pool filled with water. A light shone on the pool, illuminating it. The walls of the cave were glittering, as if they had stars in them. Lily walked over to the pool of water and dragged her hand through it. She was surprised to feel that it was warm.  
  
The others also walked over to the pool and ran their hands through it. Suddenly, a soft voice echoed through the chamber, a beautiful voice, and enchanting voice.  
  
"Hello, Lily, Helena, Sirius and James. Welcome to The Pools Of Time."  
  
"Who are you? Where are you?" Lily shouted into the darkness.  
  
"I am the Custodian of the Pools Of Time. And I am everywhere. I am omnipresent."  
  
"What are you for?" Helena said.  
  
"I preserve memories. In my pools I have all the memories in the world."  
  
"Will you show us some memories Custodian?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Certainly Sirius. Look down, look deep down into the pools, and I will tell you about the beginning of Auriga."  
  
All four bent their heads over the pools, as if in a trance.  
  
"Many millions of years ago there was a sun. And the sun had nine beautiful children that rotated around her always. But the suns most beautiful child was called Earth. She had blue oceans, and blue skies and lush green grass. But Earth was an unusual child, for she was divided into many worlds, though from the surface she was one. The most powerful of these many worlds was a beautiful city in the sky. This beautiful city was called Auriga. Auriga was so beautiful and powerful that it needed a lot of protection. And the first task to overcome was The Labyrinth."  
  
Though the Custodian's story was complete, the four friends continued staring into the swirling waters.  
  
"It is time for you to go now. You will be frightened by what you next see. But remember: To reach Auriga you must think like the people of Earth think, you must act like the people of Earth act and you must do like the people of Earth do."  
  
Armed with this cryptic clue, they looked up from the water, still in their trance like state, and began making their way to the back of the cave. At the back of the cave was a wooden door. Pushing it open, they found themselves looking in on a Potions lesson...  



End file.
